Zufall Receives Support from Direct Relief and The Pfizer Foundation to Improve Infectious Disease Care
Dover, N.J. — Zufall Health was recently named a recipient of Direct Relief’s Innovation Awards in Community Health: Addressing Infectious Disease in Underserved Communities. The health center is one of 11 health care providers nationwide that will share a $2.5 million grant funded by the Pfizer Foundation to support innovative approaches to infectious disease education, screening, testing, treatment, and care.
Zufall was cited for Peds in the Park, a program that utilizes a mobile medical van to conduct pediatric assessment and vaccination events throughout low-income neighborhoods. It was created to counter the dramatic drop in the number of children receiving their routine childhood immunizations due to the pandemic.
“We are so grateful for the support we have received from Direct Relief while coping with COVID-19 and its profound impact on our services, staff, and patients,” said Eva Turbiner, Zufall’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “This grant from the Pfizer Foundation will significantly help improve health outcomes for our pediatric patients.”
The award recipient programs are a mix of urban and rural initiatives that will work to create greater health equity in the country’s most vulnerable communities.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing systemic health inequities, resulting in vulnerable patients and their loved ones experiencing even greater hardship,” said Caroline Roan, President, The Pfizer Foundation and Chief Sustainability Officer, Pfizer Inc. “We are proud to support Direct Relief and its network of frontline safety-net clinics across the U.S. to break down barriers to good health in underserved communities and increase access to life-saving infectious disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care.”
“These awards are intended in part to allow providers to test and improve new care models and solutions, which is of utmost importance as healthcare is drastically changing due to COVID-19,” said Thomas Tighe, Chief Executive Officer and President of Direct Relief. “We are humbled by the dedication of these largely unheralded safety-net health providers to improve the lives and health of the people they care for.”
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Zufall Health is an award-winning federally qualified health center headquartered in Dover that serves more than 40,000 patients in six northern and central New Jersey counties.
The Pfizer Foundation is a charitable organization established by Pfizer Inc. It is a separate legal entity from Pfizer Inc with distinct legal restrictions. The foundation’s mission is to promote access to quality healthcare, to nurture innovation, and to support the community involvement of Pfizer colleagues.
A humanitarian organization committed to improving the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergencies, Direct Relief delivers lifesaving medical resources throughout the world to communities in need – without regard to politics, religion, or ability to pay. For more information please visit https://www.DirectRelief.org.